1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric connector including at least one substantially striplike contact element of which a portion extends from within a housing through a housing wall to the outside of the housing, and is formed thereat as a flat contact extending along an outer side of the housing wall, the housing wall having, outside the housing, a recess formed therein and exposing at least parts of the contact element portion extending through the housing wall, the exposed contact element portion being formed at least partly as a second flat contact, and the recess being formed as a plug-in opening for a contact spring capable of contacting the second flat contact.
Electric connectors of this general type are installed in mobile or cellular telephones, amongst others, so that they are able to be connected to automobile installation kits, hands-free facilities, chargers, earphones, microphones, and so forth.
Many embodiments of electric connectors which may be used for the purposes mentioned hereinabove have become known heretofore.
One possible embodiment of an electric connector which is usable for the aforementioned purposes has been described, for example, in the published European Patent Document EP 0,586,971 A1. The fundamental principle of such an electric connector is illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B shown herein. The relevant electric connector being, respectively, the upper or first connector identified by a reference numeral 110 in the illustrated connector arrangement. The first connector is connectable to a respective counterpart illustrated at the bottom of the aforementioned figures and formed as a second connector, the first and the second connectors being shown in unconnected condition in FIG. 6A, and in connected condition in FIG. 6B.
In the example of the aforementioned European patent document under consideration, the first connector is installed in a mobile telephone or cellular phone or the like, and the second connector is an integral part of a charger or the like.
The first connector has a striplike contact element, one end of which, in the example under consideration, is soldered, for example, by an SMT soldering method, to an electric printed board provided within a housing, i.e., a mobile housing and, simultaneously, a connector housing, and the other end of which extends outside the housing and forms thereat a flat contact that can be brought into contact with a corresponding contact spring of the second connector.
The contact spring of the second connector, in the unconnected condition of the connectors illustrated in FIG. 6A, partly projects out of a housing part, namely, the charger and, simultaneously, the second connector, through an opening formed in the latter. The salient part of the contact spring, i.e., the part thereof projecting from the housing, is pressable downwardly by pressure acting from above according to the representation in FIGS. 6A and 6B, in particular, due to elastic deformation of the lower part of the contact spring.
The pressure on the contact spring of the second connector may be exerted, for example, by pressing down thereon or, in the case of an appropriate dead weight, merely by placing the latter on the first electric connector or, more precisely, on the appliance or device containing the first electric connector. In the condition illustrated in FIG. 6B, the contact element or, more precisely, the flat contact of the contact element of the first connector, and the contact spring of the second connector are pressed against one another, thus making it possible to achieve a reliable electrical contact, if the contact springs and the contact locations, respectively, thereof are suitably constructed and oriented.
Mechanically loose electric connections, which are producible by the use of contact elements of this type, can be employed advantageously, in particular, when an appliance or device containing the first connector is only temporarily electrically connectable to and disconnectable from, respectively, an appliance or device containing the second connector, at any time without force, and primarily by merely laying the one on the other and lifting the one away from the other, respectively.
The mobile or portable telephones or cellular phones, also referred to hereinafter as mobiles, which are under consideration herein, require connecting possibilities which permit them to be connected quickly and easily to convenient automobile installation kits, desk charging stations, hands-free facilities and the like.
On the other hand, with regard to many appliances, in addition to the aforedescribed connection system which permits mechanically loose connections, there is a need for a further connector system which permits mechanically fixed connections, such as, for example, a plug connector system or the like, so that electric connections can be made permitting the formation of a mechanical connection between the connectors to be connected, which cannot unintentionally or easily be separated.
In the mobiles under consideration, this is necessary so that simple automobile installation kits, chargers, earphones, microphones and the like can be connected.
It is believed to be readily apparent, and does not need to be explained any further, that the aforementioned connection systems are suitable, respectively, only for a quite specific purpose, namely to make either a mechanically loose or a mechanically fixed connection, and are unable to serve as even only an approximately equivalent replacement for the other connection system, respectively. On the other hand, the provision of several possibilities of connection for the input and reception, respectively, of the same signals requires a relatively large amount of space, and this runs counter to the constant endeavor to reduce the size of articles of all types.
An electric connector by which both mechanically loose and mechanically fixed connections can be made has become known heretofore from the published European Patent Document EP-A-0 701 303. Electric connectors of this type, though of small size, may have a large number of contact elements contactable by various kinds of counterconnectors. It may prove to be problematical, however, to contact the contact elements reliably and gently therefor and for the electric connectors under all circumstances.